Jana Islinger

Unter demselben Himmel, 2025

Germany, Duisburg: Carla (27), a political science student, photographed in Duisburg-Marxloh, a neighborhood marked by cultural diversity and social challenges.

Germany, Duisburg: Residential building at night in Duisburg-Marxloh, reflecting the dense housing and social contrasts within the neighborhood.

Germany, Duisburg: Fatima (16) in Duisburg-Marxloh, growing up in a neighborhood with limited educational opportunities but strong community ties.

Germany, Duisburg: Cansel (16) and Kadir (20) sit on a date in a car at the parking lot next to the steelworks in Duisburg-Marxloh, a place reflecting the industrial past and everyday life of residents.

Germany, Duisburg: Roxanna (18) in Duisburg-Marxloh, where young women navigate their daily lives between limited opportunities and personal ambitions.

Germany, Duisburg: Young people playing slot machines in a kiosk in Duisburg-Meiderich, a neighborhood shaped by social diversity and structural inequalities.

Germany, Duisburg: Lili (22) leans against a wall at night in Duisburg’s Dellviertel, an urban neighborhood with social diversity and a varied community.

Germany, Duisburg: Freya (22), photographed in Duisburg-Meiderich, an area where unequal opportunities shape young people’s upbringing.

Germany, Duisburg: Highway bridge next to a residential building in Duisburg-Marxloh, symbolizing the spatial divide between neighborhoods with differing social conditions.

Germany, Duisburg: Lucia (22) sits in Bar Pampus in Duisburg’s Dellviertel, an urban neighborhood with social diversity and a varied community.

The Ruhr region is considered a region that has grown together. Yet not everyone grows up under the same conditions: opportunities, education, and social participation are unevenly distributed – often invisible, yet palpable in everyday life. This oft-described “north-south divide” does not represent a fixed geographical dividing line, but rather socio-spatial inequalities that influence life paths and future opportunities. By documenting everyday situations, this work focuses on how social structures and contradictory narratives of the region shape the upbringing of young women. The female perspective offers a view beyond the familiar images of coal, steel, and male-dominated industrial labor that have historically dominated the Ruhr region. By linking Islinger’s observations to the memories of her mother, who herself grew up in the Ruhr region, the project explores the persistence of such differences and how they shape life trajectories across generations.

Biography

Jana Islinger, b. 1999 in Munich (DE); lives and works in Munich (DE). Islinger studied photography at Munich University of Applied Sciences and at the Ostkreuz School in Berlin and is represented by the laif agency. Taking a journalistic approach, she undertakes long-term projects on social issues, focusing on identity, belonging, and power structures. Her work has been recognized with awards such as the Nikon Fotobus Grant and has been exhibited at the Les Rencontres d’Arles photography festival, among others.